Andy M. Stewart Dinny the Piper / Amhran Na Tae (Song
of the Tea) Lyrics:
In the year '98, when our troubles were great
It was treason to be a Milesian.
And the black-whiskered set we would never forget
And our history shows they were Hessians.
And in these troubled times, there was all sorts of crime
And murder -- it never was rifer.
Near the town of Glenshee, not an acre from Meath,
Lived one Denny Burns, the Piper!

Neither weddin' nor wake would be worth a shake
If Denny was not first invited.
For at squeezin' the bag, or emptyin' the keg,
He astonished as well as delighted!
But in these times Denny could not earn a penny,
Martial Law had him stung like a viper!
And it kept him within till the bones of his skin
Grinned out thru the rags of the piper!

Now one day it did dawn, as Denny crept home,
Back from a fair at Lethangin,
When what should he see, from the branch of a tree,
But the corpse of a Hessian, there hangin'!
Says Denny, "These rogues have good
boots, I've no brogues!"
He took hold of the boots wi' a griper,
And the boots were so tight, and he pulled with such might,
Legs and all come away with the piper!

Ah, then Denny did run for fear of bein' hung
Til he came to Tim Haley's cabin.
Says Tim from within, "I can't let ye in!
Ye'll be shot if you're caught out there rappin'!"
So he went to the shed where the cow was in bed,
He began with a wisp for to wipe her,
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And they lay down together, in seven foot of heather,
And the cow took to huggin' the piper!

Well the day it wore on, and Denny did yawn,
And he stripped off the boots from the Hessian!
And the legs, for the law, he just left in the straw,
And he slipped home with his new possessions!
Now breakfast bein' done, Tim sent his young son
To get Denny up like a lamplighter,
And the legs there he saw; he flew up like a jackdaw!
And said "Daddy, the cow's et the piper!"

Ah, bad luck to that beast, she's no musical taste!
To eat such a jolly old chanter!
A Phaidraig, a mhic,
[This is pronounced: ah-faw-rig ah-vick
and means "Patrick, (my) son"]
Take this lump of a stick!
Drive her off, down the road and we'll canter!
Well the neighbors were called, Mrs. Kennedy bawled,
She began for to humbug and jiper,
And in sorrow they met, and their whistles they wet,
And like devils, lamented the piper!
(more!)
Denny The Piper (Cont.)

And the cow she was drove a mile or two off,
And they came to the fair at Killaley.
And there she was sold for four guineas of gold
To the clerk of the parish, John Daley.
And they went to the tent where the pennies were spent,
Tim bein' a jolly old swiper,
And who should be there, playin' "The Rakes of Kildare",
But your bold Denny Burns, the piper!

Ah, then Tim give a jolt like a half-drunken colt,
And he stares at the piper like a gammick!
I thought, by the Powers, for the last eight hours,
You were playin' in the old cow's stomach!
Well when Denny observed how the Hessian's been served
Began just to humbug and jiper,
Oh, in grandeur they met, and their whistles they wet,
And like devils they danced round the piper!
Lyrics: Dinny the Piper / Amhran Na Tae (Song of the Tea),
Andy M. Stewart [end]